Transcript Infinitive and gerund in English versus overt and covert derived nominal in Arabic Dr.

Infinitive and gerund in
English versus overt and
covert derived nominal in
Arabic
Dr. Walid Amer
Infinitive and gerund in English
• The infinitive construction in English is one of the
nonfinite verb forms. It comprises two word unit
‘to plus the verb stem’. It syntactically serves as
a subject, object or a complement, but can never
be the main verb of the sentence although it
involves certain verbal qualities. Consider:
• 1a. To sign a truce now seems very difficult
• b. It seems very difficult to sign a truce now
Infinitive and gerund in English
• The infinitive in (1) serves as the subject of the
verb seem.
• 2. He wants to travel.
• The infinitive here is the direct object of the main
verb.
• 3 Our hope is to make reconciliation between
the Palestinian presidency and government.
• The infinitive here functions as subject
complement
• 4. They elected him to be the president.
• The infinitive in (4) is object complement.
Arabic derived nominals
• Shifting to Arabic, the subject cannot be a modified
derived nominal but can be overt derived nominal. For
convenience, consider the following example:
• 5a. Tawqee9 hodna 'al'aan yabdu Sa9ban jedan
•
Singing truce now seems difficult very
•
'Singing a truce now seems very difficult'
•
b.* 'an towaqe9 hodna yabdu Sa9ban jedan
•
to sign
truce now difficult very
•
'to sign a truce now seems very difficult'
• As seen (5a) is grammatical while (5b) is not because
the former begins with overt derived nominal and the
latter starts with modified derived nominal, therefore the
sentence in (5b) is illegitimate.
Arabic derived nominals
• Like English, The modified derived nominal can function
as a direct object, subject complement, or object
complement. Consider the examples below:
• 6. yureed Ali-un 'an yusafer
•
Want Ali to travel-3PS
•
'Ali wants to travel'
• 7. 'amlonaa 'an yakuun honaak twaafoq bayna Ali wa
Ahmed.
•
Hope-our to be
there compromise between Ali
and Ahmed.
•
'our hope is to have compromise between Ali and
Ahmed'
• 8. rashshaHooh-u 'an yakuun-a ra'ees-an.
•
Elected-they-him to be
president.
•
'they elected him to be president'
Sensation verbs in English
• Sensation verbs in English only accept bare
infinitive but not 'to infinitive' in active clauses,
but not in passives. These are like: See, hear,
smell look, notice.
• 9a. I heard them talk about the plan.
• b.*I heard them to talk about the plan.
• 10a. I saw Ali stand at the gate.
• b.* I saw Ali to stand at the gate.
• 11a. I noticed her pick a flower.
• b.* I noticed her to pick a flower.
Sensation verbs in Arab
• The structure of sensation verbs of English differs
slightly from Arabic since the verb following the
sensation verb in Arabic is always inflected with
present tense; it appears in an imperfect indicative
form. Consider:
• 12. same9-tu-hu yatakallam 9an l-xoTTah
•
Heard-I-him speak(3rd person) about the-plan
•
‘I heard him speaking about the plan’
• 13. ra'aytu Mohammad-an yaqef 9end l-bawaabah
•
Saw-I mohammad-acc stand(3rd person) at the gate
•
‘I saw Mohammad standing at the gate’
• 14. laHthtuhaa taqTefu warda-an.
•
Noticed=I-her pick up rose
•
‘I noticed here picking up a rose’
Sensation verbs in Arab
• The verb da9 'let' has the same capacity as the sensation
verbs since it only accepts the imperfect present indicative
verb form. However, the English verb let along with help and
make accepts both bare and 'to infinitive'.Consider:
• 15a. da9 ali yal9ab
•
Let Ali play
•
b*da9 ali an yal9ab
•
Let Ali to play
• 16a. They helped him solve the problem.
•
b. They helped him to solve the problem.
• This doesn’t correspond to the Arabic verb sa9ad-a (help)
since it neither accepts any type of derived nominal. For
convenience consider the following examples:
• 17a.* sa9t-tuhu Hall l-moshkelah
•
Helpt I him solve the problem
•
b.* sa9ttuhu ?an yaHul l-moshkelah
•
helpt-I-him to solve the problem
Verbs accepting gerund or infinitives
• The Bolinger Principle", in which the choice of infinitives
correlates, in some degree, with events that are of
"hypothetical, future, unfulfilled" and gerunds with those
that are "real, vivid, fulfilled."
• As seen, Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman's treatment
focuses on the semantic distinction between the two
forms. However, some verbs indicating the overlap as
start, continue, eat do not always relate to the Bolinger
principle, i.e. they have the same meaning using either
form. For instance:
• 19a. It starts to rain.
•
b. It starts raining.
• 20a. Richard continued to work.
•
b. Richard continued •working.
• 21a. I prefer to eat sandwiches.
•
b. I prefer eating sandwiches.
Amer’s Account
• To solve this problem Amer ( 2004) maintains
that the semantics of verb behavior plays a
major role in this infinitive-gerund dichotomy as
objects. Therefore, he divides English verbs into
four semantic categories:
• 1. Emotive Verbs
• Emotive verbs (Quirk 1985; Chalker and Weiner
1994; Amer 2004) indicate the mood and
attitude of agents or participants. These verbs
are not associated with an explicit time reference
in meaning as aspectual and other verbs are.
Some of the typical emotive verbs are: dread,
hate, like, love, loathe, prefer, and rejoice
Amer’s Account
•
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22a. He hated to meet the boss.
b. he hated meeting the boss.
23a. Would you like to see my dad?
b. Would you like seeing my dad?
24a. ?Ali loathed to participate in the debate.
b. Ali loathed participating in the debate.
25a. Do you prefer to read the daily or to watch
the T.V. news?
• b. Do you prefer reading the daily or watching
the T.V.news?
• 26a. They all rejoiced to hear of his success.
• b. They all rejoiced hearing of his success.
Emotive verbs in Arabic
• Shifting to Arabic, the language includes emotive verbs
like yuHeb 'love', yakrah 'hate', yabghaD 'dislike',
yufaDel 'prefer', yaxaaf 'fear', yaxsha 'fear', yu9jeb
'admire' ya9shaq 'adore'. These verbs accept both
masder sareeH 'overt derived nominal' and masder
Moa'wwal 'modified derived nominal'. The former is
nominal which is directly derived from the verb; e.g.
katab-a
kitabah. Whereas the latter consists of the
complementizer 'anna and the present imperfect
indicative form of the verb for example:
• 'An yaktub. Consider the following examples:
• 27a. yuHeb-u zayd-un qeraa'ta l-qur'aan
•
Like Zayd-nom reading the-Quran
•
'Zayd likes reading the Quran'
•
b. yuHib-u zayd-un 'an yaqra'a l-qura'an
•
like
Zayd-nom that read the-Quran
•
'Zayd likes to read the Quran'
Emotive
verbs
in
Arabic
28a. yakrah l-walad-u l-la9eba fi –sh-Share9
•
•
Dislike the boy-nom the-playing at the-street
•
'the boy dislikes playing at street'
•
b. yakruh l-walad-u ;an yal9ab-a fi sh-share9.
•
Dislike the boy-nom that play at the-street
•
'the boy dislikes to play at street'
• 29a. yufaDel zayd-un Shorb-a Sh-Shay.
•
Prefer Zayd-nom drinking the-tea
•
'Zayd prefers drinking tea'
•
b. yufaDel zayd-un 'an yashrab-a sh-shay.
•
Prefer Zayd-nom that drink the-tea
•
'Zayd prefers to drink tea'
• 30a. yaxaaf l-mo'men irtikaab l-kabaa'r.
•
Fear the-believer committing the-big sins
•
'the believer fears committing big sins'
•
b. Yaxaaf l-mo'men 'an yartakeb-a l-kabaa'r
•
Fear the-believer that commit the-big sins
•
'the believer fears to commit big sins'
2. Aspectual Verbs
• Following Quirk, (1985); Yule, (1998), Amer (2004) maintains
that ''aspectual verbs are used to indicate a variety of time
aspects of initiation, continuation, repetition, or termination of
an activity. They include: begin, resume, remain, commence,
finish, continue, discontinue, end up, cease, repeat, complete.
give up, postpone, proceed, quit, keep (on), start, stay, and
stop''.
• 31a. He began to answer the questions.
•
b. He began answering the questions.
• 32a. Ahmed continued to work on his farm.
•
b. Ahmed continued working on his farm.
• 33a. Having said that he would be frank, we all
•
commenced to listen to him.
•
b. Having said that he would be frank, we all
•
commenced listening to him.
• 34a. Ahmed ceased to smoke while in hospital.
•
b. Ahmed ceased smoking while in hospital.
• 35a. He started to drink tea.
•
b. He started drinking tea.
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Aspectual
Verbs
''verbs such as start, begin, commence, cease, and
continue take both an infinitive or a gerund without much
distinction in meaning because in these readings, they
"do not denote separate actions; their occurrence with
complement verbs cannot be interpreted as two actions
in sequence" But when the lexical meaning of the verbs
is perceived as possessing the meaning of "duration in
time" or with two time sequences, a gerund is strongly
preferred. For example:
36. John finished doing his homework at midnight.
37. He quit smoking cigarettes.
38. The committee postponed making a decision on the
matter.
39. We'll stop for an hour and resume working at three
o'clock.
40. The children keep pestering their parents to take
them to the fair
Aspectual Verbs
• The lexical meanings of finish, quit,
postpone, resume, and keep in the
examples above all contain activities or
processes that imply the meaning of
duration in time". Thus. It appears clearly
that aspectual verbs expressing the
meaning of "point in time," "single act," or
"state" tend to take infinitives while those
expressing the meaning of "period of
time," "on-going event," or "activity and
process" take gerunds.
aspectual verbs in Arabic
• Turning to Arabic, it involves a lot of aspectual
verbs. Examples are like; yabda' or yabtade' 'start',
yunhy 'finish', yuwaSel 'continue', yastamr 'continue',
yuqef 'stop', yasta'nef 'resume', yu'ajel 'postpone',
yu9eed 'return', yatruk 'quit'. These verbs are only
followed by overt derived nominal which parallels
gerund in English. Consider the following examples:
• 41a. yabtade' l-mo9allem monaqashat T-Tollaab
•
Start
the teacher asking
the students
•
‘the teacher starts asking the students’
•
B* yabtade' l-mo9allem 'an yunaqesh T-Tollaab
•
Start the teacher
that ask
the
students
•
‘The teacher starts to ask the students’
examples
• 41a. yabtade' l-mo9allem monaqashat T-Tollaab
•
Start
the teacher asking
the students
•
‘the teacher starts asking the students’
•
B* yabtade' l-mo9allem 'an yunaqesh T-Tollaab
•
Start the teacher
that ask
the students
•
‘The teacher starts to ask the students’
• 42a. yunhi Ali kitaabat d-dars-a
•
Finish Ali writing the lesson
•
‘Ali finishes writing the lesson’
•
b.* yunhi Ali 'an yaktub d-dars-a
•
finish Ali that write the lesson
•
‘Ali finishes to write the lesson’
•
‘Law stops the collaborator to deceive’
Semantic distinction
• Some English verbs from the two categories above
can be followed by both gerunds and infinitives with
little or no change in meaning:
•
I love to eat sandwiches
•
I love eating sandwiches
• This typically corresponds to the Arabic verb yuHib
'love'.
• Some verbs can be followed by both gerunds and
infinitives, but have a change in meaning. These
are like: quit, stop, remember, and forget
• John forgot to buy the linguistics book . >> John
didn’t buy the book because he forgot to buy it
• John forgot buying the linguistics book. >> John
bought the book, but he forgot that he bought it
Semantic distinction
• Mary quit to cook. >> Mary quit her first activity
because she wanted to cook.
• ’Mary quit cooking. >> Mary doesn’t cook
anymore .
• John remembered to wash the plates. >> John
had stopped his first activity so he could go and
wash the plates.
• John remembered washing the plates. >> After
John finished washing the plates, he
remembered that he had already washed the
plates.
• Mary stopped to eat. >> Mary had stopped her
first activity so that she could go and eat.
• Mary stopped eating. >> Mary stopped the
process of eating.
Semantic distinction
• The equivalents of these verbs are not followed
by overt or modified nominal except the verbs;
yataDakker 'remember', and yansa 'forget'. The
sentences involving such verbs have differences
in meaning between the structure of overt and
modified nominal following them. Consider:
• 46a. taDakker zayd-un an yusaleh s-sayara
•
remembered Zayd-nom that repair the-car
•
'Zayd remembered to repair the car'
•
b. taDakker zayd-un tasleeH s-sayara
•
remembered Zayd-nom repairing the-car
•
'Zayd remembered repairing the car'
3. Reactive Verbs
• The reactive verbs of English only take gerunds because
they have a later time reference than that of their
complement. They do not have explicit time references
in their lexical meanings. However, when they take
gerunds as objects, the contrasting time references
become quite obvious. (Jacobs, 1995) For example:
• 48. I appreciate hearing from you.
• There are two apparent time references here in (48); one
is hearing from you, and the other I appreciate. The act
of getting a response from someone is being appreciated
(Amer 2004).
• Some of the reactive verbs include: confess, consider,
deny, detest, dislike, enjoy, abhor, recall, recommend,
regret, reject, remember, repent, resent, resist, require,
risk admit, appreciate, avoid, forget, imagine, mind, and
propose,. According to (Jacobs, 1995), "these verbs
have to do with realized experience, whether past or
ongoing" (P. 295).
Reactive Verbs
• 49. We discussed going to the zoo in the
weekend.
• 50. The family has seriously considered selling
its house.
• 51. The suspect denies ever committing the
crime.
• 52. He detests socializing with students at
school.
• 53. He repented having shot the dog.
• 54. He resents having to get his parent's
permission for everything he does.
• 55. He admitted killing the thief.
• 56. The suspect confessed murdering the man
• 57. It's hard to imagine staying in a place where
people suffer from occupation.
Reactive Verbs in Arabic
• The attitude of reactive verbs in Arabic differs from those
in English since most of them alternate i.e. they accept
overt and modified derived nominal. These verbs are
like: yuthammen 'evaluate', yunaqesh 'discuss',
yuqadder 'appreciate', yuqaym 'evaluate', yuqawem
'resist', yataDaker 'rememder', yansaa 'forget', yataxayal
'imagine'. Lets consider some examples for
convenience:
• 58a. qadder Allah=u 'an yatem Dalek.
•
Decide Allah-nom that occur this
•
'Allah decides this to be achieved'
•
b. qadder Allah-u itmaam Dalek
•
decide Allah-nom achieving this
•
'Allah decides achieving this'
• 59a. la nataSawwer ann naqbala D-Dolem.
•
Not we-imagine that accept the-tyranny
More examples
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b. La nataSawwer qabuul-a D-Dolem
'
60a. yarfoD-u Ali-yun 'an yaDlem n-naas-a.
b. yarfoD-u Ali-yun Dolm-a n-naas-i
61a. yaftaraD-u zayd-un 'an yajee' 9amr.
B. yaftaraD-u zayd-un majee'-a 9amr.
62a. yatatallab n-najaaH an najtahed.
b. Yatatallab n-najaaH ijtehad-an kabeer-an.
some reactive verbs accept nouns
• However some reactive verbs only accept nouns
following them, such as; yuthmen, 'valuate', ,
yuqaawem 'defend' but not the verb; yunaaqesh
'discuss' which only accept overt derived
nominal. Consider:
• 63a. la yuthmman ta9bu l-waaledayn-I bi nnoquud.
•
b.* la yuthmman 'an yata9b l-waaledayn-I bi
n-noquud
• 64a. yuqawem l-jond-u hojoom-a l-9adow.
• b.* yuqaawem l-jund-u 'an yahjum-a l-9adow.
• 65a. yunaaqesh l-kull-u Halla l-moshkel
'
•
b.*Yunaaqesh l-kul 'an yaHol-loo l-moshkela
4. Forward-oriented Verbs
• Forward-oriented verbs, or commitment verbs, in
English take infinitive only. They refer to actions
that to be fulfilled in future, i.e these verbs refer
to "some kind of commitment to future action"
(Yule, 1998:221). Therefore the situation they
refer to is potential rather than an existing one.
For example:
• 66. we expect to stop this security disorder soon.
• 67. We hope to submit the paper soon.
• 68. Ahmed intends to travel to Egypt for studying
medicine.
• 69. They plan to spend the vacation in London.
• 70.My friend wanted to start his undergraduate
study in law this fall.
Forward-oriented Verbs
• The verbs: plan, want, yearn, expect, intend, hope,
and wish, all indicate a future orientation. The
suggested events, being conveyed by the meaning
of these verbs, have yet to happen. Other verbs that
have a less explicit future orientation may include:
beg, choose, command, compel, decide, advise,
agree, decline, fail, force, ask, aspire, learn, order,
teach, tell, tend, urge, persuade, pretend, promise,
refuse, remind, seek, long, manage, struggle, swear,
mean, offer, strive, and vow."
• 71. Mary aspires to be a famous advocate.
• 72. They chose to take his threats seriously.
• 73. Ahmed was obliged to attend the meeting.
• 74. the suspect abstained to answer the detective's
questions.
foreword oriented verbs in Arabic
• The foreword oriented verbs in Arabic differ
completely from English since they accept both
overt and modified derived nominal. These are
like
• Yatawaqqa9 'expect', ya'mal 'hope', yuxaTeT
'plan', yureed 'want' yanwy 'intend', yuSamem
'insist'
• Consider the following examples:
• 75a. yatawaqa9 zayd-un an yaSal axaah men ssafar l-yawm
• b. yatawaqa9 zayd-un wosool-a axeeh men ssafar l-yawm
• 76a. ta'mal hind-un an tanal-a n-najaaH haDi ssanah.
• b. ta'mal hind-un nayla n-najaaHaa haDi s-
More examples
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yanwy l-mosee'-u an yatuub-a 'ila Allah
yanwy l-mosee'-u t-tawbata 'lla Allah
'xtar-a Ali-yu an yadrus-a t-tareex
'xtar-a Ali-yu deraasat-a t-tareex
yaqtareH zayd-un an yuqabel-a Hind-an
yaqtareH zayd-un moqabalat-a Hind-in
yoxaTeT waalidi an yabny dar-an l-laytaam
* yoxaTeT waalidi benaa' dar-in l-laytaam
yuSamem-u Ali-yu an yaquud-a s-sayaara
.* yuSamem-u Ali-yu qeyadat-a s-sayaara